Automatic sprinkler system.



I. H. DERBY. A AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER SYSTEM.

APPLlATlON man NOV-29, 1901.

1,201,275. Patented Oct 17,1916.

WT E5555; I IIHVEEFIT'EIFK:

sa'rs JOHN H. DERBY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL FIRE EXTINGUISHER COMPANY, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

AUTOMATIC SPRINKLER SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented 1 1'? 1914} Application filed November 29, 1907. Serial No. 404,433.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. DERBY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Sprinkler Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to stationary automatic sprinkler systems for checking or extinguishing fires. In situations where a wet pipe sprinkling system cannot be safely in stalled, as for example in factories which are not sufliciently heated in cold weather to keep the pipes from freezing, it has been the practice heretofore to install dry pipe systems, in which the sprinkler pipes normally contain no water but are kept filled with compressed air instead, by the pressure of which the flow of water into the system is prevented until one or more sprinkler heads open. Such dry pipe systems, however, are open to the objections that they require the installation of an arrangement for supplying compressed air to the sprinkler pipe system, and that when a sprinkler head opens the compressed air has to pass out through it ahead of the water, thus involving a certain amount of delay in the application of the water to the fire. My invention is intended to provide a stationary wet pipe sprinkling system which may be successfully used in situations where it has heretofore been necessary to employ a dry pipe system, and will be free from the objections attendant upon the use of systems of the latter class, and to this end my invention is characterized primarily by the arrangement of the sprinkler pipes in a circulating system, which system.

is connected to a water main or other suitable source of supply and includes a suitable heater whereby the water in the sprinkler pipes is always kept above the freezing temperature.

In the accompanying drawings the figure illustrates my improved system as preferably arranged, the details of the system being illustrated diagrammatically for the most part, as my invention resides rather in the combination and arrangement of previously existing parts, than in the details of construction of any of the parts themselves.

Referring to the drawings, 2 and 3 indi cate respectively the walls and floors of a portion of a building, and 4, 4 indicate lines of sprinkler pipes suspended from the ceillngs 1n the usual manner, said pipes being provided at suitable intervals with sprinkler heads 5. Each of these pipes 4 is connected at one end to a cross pipe 6, and the pipes 6 are in turn connected by branches 7 to a riser 8, as heretofore. In my arrangement, however, the .pipes 4, instead of being blind or closed at that end which is opposite their inlet end as heretofore, are connected on each floor to a cross pipe 9 which in turn is connected by a branch 10 to another riser 11, and the risers 8 and 11 are connected below the branches 7 and 10 by cross pipes 12 and 13, thus providing a complete circulating system, which system is connected to a street main 1% or other source of supply by a pipe 15.

In the circulating system of pipes above described is included an apparatus 16 for heating the water normally contained in the sprinkler pipe system and maintaining a circulation therein. This heater 16 may be of any construction. suitable for the situation in which it is used, the heat being supplied thereto, as herein represented, by means of a steam pipe 17 through which steam is brought from the engine or boiler room con nected with the building, in case the same is available. The exhaust steam from the engine may be conveniently employed for this purpose, in which case, after it has passed through the heater, it .is led off through a pipe 18 containing a trap 19. In order to facilitate the circulation and give it a uniform directional tendency the sprinkler pipes 4 are preferably inclined somewhat to the horizontal, as shown, so that the cooled water in the sprinkler pipes will tend to fiow downward into and through the riser 11, while the warm water will flow upward through the-riser 8.

Y At 20 is represented an alarm check valve, which may be of any usual construction and is preferably provided with a gate valve 21.

22 represents a. by-pass passage leading from one side of the valve 20 to-the other and controlled by a check valve 28 which opens toward the supply side of said valve 20, whereby any slight increase of pressure which may develop on the sprinkler side of the valve is reduced and equalized with that of the supply system.

The supply of heat to the heater should be so regulated that the temperature of the water in the sprinkler pipes will not risesufiiciently to melt the sprinkler heads, and as a further precaution against such melting of the sprinkler heads I prefer to employ a fusible plug 24- located in the pipe 12 leading from the heater, which plug is of such a character that it will melt and permit the escape of water from the pipes when a critical temperature is reached, thereby causing an influx of cold water into the circulating system in suflicient amount to reduce the temperature below the danger point. This flow of water will operate the alarm valve and thus call attention to the situation.

indicates a relief valve whereby any undue pressure in the circulation system is relieved automatically, in case the check valve 23 should be inadequate for that pur pose or fail to operate in any instance, and 26 indicates a draw-off valve whereby the system may be emptied when desired.

In view of the possibility that the gate valve 21 may inadvertently be left closed, it is desirable to connect the automatic relief valve 25 to the circulating system at a point below the level of the sprinkler heads, since in such case if the relief valve should be opened by pressure due to an excessive rise in the temperature of the water, said valve will serve to drain the over-heated water away from the sprinkler heads and thus provide an additional safeguard against the melting of the same.

In order that the heater may be cut out of the circulating system in warm weather, or in case it becomes necessary or desirable to inspect or repair the heater, I prefer to connect the pipes 12 and 13 by a bypass pipe 27 controlled by a gate valve 28, which valve will normally be kept closed but may be opened in case the heater is to be disconnected from the system. In such case the connections between the heater and the pipes 12 and 13 will be closed by means of hand valves 29 and 30, located in said connections respectively. As thus constructed, the system of pipes is kept filled at all times with water from the main 14, and in case a sprinkler opens the flow of water from the main through the alarm valve serves to give an alarm in the usual manner. In cold weather the water in the sprinkler pipe system is kept continually circulating and is heated to an extent sufiicient to prevent freezing by means of the heater 16, through which it flows continuously, and it is one of the features of my arrangement that in case one or more sprinklers open, water is sup plied thereto through both the risers 8 and 11 and the connected pipes,that is to say,from both directions at once, so that 4 these risers and pipes may bev made smaller than heretofore without diminishing the capacity of the system, thereby effecting in many cases a saving in the weight and cost of the piping employed. It will be evident that this feature of my invention is inclependent of the employment of a heater, and that it may be embodied in a dry-pipe system, if desired.

I claim as my invention:

1. An automatic sprinkler system comprising a water-circulating system including sprinkler pipes provided with automatic sprinkler heads, a water heater, and connections between the water space in said heater and opposite ends of the sprinkler pipes, connections between said circulating system and a source of supply of water, an alarm valve included in the latter connections and located wholly outside of the circulating system, a by-pass passage around said alarm valve, and a check valve included in said passage and opening toward the supply side of the alarm valve.

2. An automatic sprinkler system comprising a water-circulating system includ ing sprinkler pipes provided vwith automatic sprinkler heads, a water heater, and connections between the water space in said heater and opposite ends of the sprinkler pipes, connections between said circulating system and a source of supply of Water, an alarm valve included in the latter connections and located wholly outside of the circulating system, a by-pass passage around said alarm valve, a check valve included in said by-pass passage and opening toward the supply side of the alarm valve, and an automatic relief valve connected to the circulating system.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this twenty-third day of November, 1907.

JOHN H. DERBY.

lVitnesses E. D. CHADWICK, JOSEPH T. BRENNAN.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, I). O. 

